6 Q’s About the News

WHO is Julian Assange?WHO announced on Thursday that Mr. Assange would receive political asylum in Ecuador?

WHERE has Mr. Assange been “holed up” for the past two months?

WHEN did Mr. Assange’s legal battle in Britain begin?

HOW did the British Foreign Office respond to the Ecuadorean announcement?HOW do you feel about WikiLeaks and Mr. Assange’s role at the site?HOW do you feel about the British government’s stance on the asylum issue?

WHAT does ‘political asylum’ mean for Mr. Assange?WHAT do some fear will happen if Mr. Assange ends up in the United States?

WHY is it unlikely that Mr. Assange will enjoy the benefits of his Ecuadorean asylum?WHY has Britain rejected requests to allow Mr. Assange to leave Britain for Ecuador?WHY is Mr. Assange wanted for questioning in Sweden?

As a social studies teacher I find this addition to TLN unusable and completely misleading. Is the purpose to educate students ? Mr. Assange is not facing extradition to the US for political crimes but to Sweden
for investigation of rape charges. How would I use this Q&A session in an informed way?

Mr Assange has not been charged with any crime. He was questioned and released by Swedish authorities initially. Then a government prosecutor reopened the case and insisted that he travel back to Sweden to face
questioning. Assange has repeatedly offered to be interviewed at the British or Australian embassies but this was declined. He is not wanted for questioning related to rape but for sexual misconduct –
a crime that does not exist under British, Australia or American law. There are so many inconsistencies in the evidence and in the way this case has been managed. The only reason any reasonable person could
believe this has happened is that there are plans to extradite him to the United States for a crime that is only illegal in the United States. Think about the possibilities for debates on justice across borders,
ethics and international relationships.